Good Enough to Eat: Art and Food

Art isn’t usually thought of as edible, but some look good enough to eat. (You can actually eat some of the works below!) Artists blur the lines between art and food with their creations, some creamy and sweet, others larger than life barbecue fare. Hungry yet?

“Treats in the street” 2015, Jim Bachor
The Chicago native took to the streets to turn unsightly road bumps into works of art. Using hand- cut glass pieces, Bachor embellishes each pothole he fills on Illinois’ streets with intricate mosaics of delicious summertime treats. His repertoire covers everything from popsicles to soft serve cones!

Amezaiku lollipops, Shinri Tezuka
An ancient tradition dating back centuries, Amezaiku is the Japanese technique of creating candy using sugar, water, starch, and food coloring. The result is an incredibly moldable medium that can replicate the smallest details to create the most lifelike shapes. Tezuka, a Japanese candy shop owner and artist, sells these captivating edible figures and more at his shop in Tokyo.

“Bread Bags” 2015, Chloe Wise
Aside from being goofy, hilariously irreverent, and in possession of the most internet-themed website ever (her cursor is a cat and the site is liberally sprinkled with millennial lingo like ‘literally’ and ‘sup u guys’), New York-based Canadian artist Chloe Wise also makes delicious looking bread/luxury bag hybrids. Each bag seamlessly merges breakfast food and branded detailing, with clever touches like a butter packet doubling as a bag charm. Unfortunately, her creations, which touch on the subject of commercial indulgence, are inedible and made entirely of oil paint, urethane, leather, and hardware.

Candy Lab and others 2014, Tanya Shultz aka Pip & Pop
At first glance it looks like a bucolic landscape that got the Lisa Frank treatment; pastel pink hills, neon blue waves, and glitter-speckled rock formations in rainbow hues. Upon closer inspection, the rolling hills and sandy mountains are revealed to be made of candy! Shultz, who hails from Australia and goes by the moniker Pip & Pop, used hundreds of pounds of sugar to create her saccharine wonderlands.

“Arts & Foods: Rituals since 1851” 2015, Triennale di Milano museum
Perhaps the most ‘artsy’ of this list of food-related art, this exhibition curated by Italian art historian Germano Celant displays art dealing with all aspects of food, from preparation to consumption and everything in between. It brings together art from all over the world and ranges from the quirky (a giant inflatable ketchup bottle by American artist Paul McCarthy), to the weird (people-sized hotdogs in sleeping bags).